Succubi
Succubi Succubi were among the rarest of the Dreadfolk, but they were among the most feared, due to their ability to hide amongst the general population and potentially avoid detection for many decades or even centuries. They were likely the most intelligent, although compared to the Lesser Demons they had less developed emotions, and they were all generally narcissistic and at least mildly psychopathic. Succubi were not physically strong and possessed little in the way of combat magic, but they had strong influence magic and their most prominent talent was their ability to magically shape-shift. Succubi who took a male form were sometimes called Incubi, but using the different names is misleading as it implies Succubi and Incubi were different creatures, when in fact they were one and the same. Although Succubi are commonly cited as "consuming the souls" of their victims, this is a somewhat exaggerated version of reality. Succubi magically drew out the life of their victims, draining out their blood and electrical pulses, however this could only be done through a sexual encounter when the victim was brought to orgasm. Succubi also usually ate the corpse of their victims after the deed was done. However, while the magical consumption necessarily required orgasm, orgasm did not necessarily entail magical consumption, and even if orgasm was achieved, the magical consumption would not function with rape and required the victim to consent. A Succubus needed to consume life to keep itself alive, and it needed to eat food to keep its body alive. Killing the body of a Succubus did not necessarily entail killing the Succubus itself, as a Succubus could shift into a new form if it had enough strength left. The key to killing them was to starve the Succubus of life by imprisoning and isolating it, then killing the body, at which point the Succubus was too weak to shift and would die along with its body. Succubi used a variety of means to seduce their victims, but their primary method was by shape-shifting into the form of whoever (or whatever) the chosen target sexually desired most. As such, the "true" form of a Succubus has never been observed, as they always shifted into what the observer desired most. Although they could change their size to some extent, they had limits, and could not become either significantly larger or smaller than the average Human. The smallest shape a Succubus was observed taking was a large dog, and the largest was a Greater Demon. The people who caused the Succubus to take these forms then had some explaining to do. Although lacking the same empathy and sentience as the Lesser Demons, the Succubi were not consumed by the same rage and hatred as the Greater Demons, and their desire to kill and consume was largely based on the need to feed rather than any ideal. As such, they sometimes struck deals with the inhabitants of this world, out of pragmatic necessity rather than any kind of desire to rebel against the Greater Demons. Although in classic fashion the Imperial Inquisition is loathe to let such records become public, there are stories of Inquisitors enlisting the services of a Succubus, allowing them to live in safety as long as they agreed to only target paedophiles, zoophiles and prisoners condemned to death, the latter of which often appreciated having a pleasant way to go. Succubi were also sometimes used in courts to prove the sexual orientations of those accused of having relations with children or animals. Although there were concerns that the Succubus would lie, various studies performed by the Inquisition showed that, while a Succubus could choose their target at will, they could not choose the shape they shifted into at will; they always became what the target desired the most with no exceptions. As well as working for the Inquisition, Succubi also sometimes sold their services as assassins and spies, and they were frequently employed by both criminal gangs and politicians to publicly humiliate their rivals by exposing deviant sexual desires. A small minority of Succubi who had secured a deal with the Inquisition also worked as prostitutes - not in order to consume, but simply because their abilities put them in exceptionally high demand. Detecting Succubi was difficult, and precisely because of this, many false accusations - either accidentally or with malicious intent - were made, and the Inquisition had to stress to its Inquisitors that a Succubus could only be killed if there was indisputable and overwhelming evidence of their nature, and the same degree of certainty as to whether they had actually killed an innocent. The easiest method was to try and catch them either in the act of consumption or shape-shifting, but they could also be tracked through their behaviours - the Inquisition warned against strange new people arriving in town and immediately trying to seduce others into sex. To woo men - who were the most common target, as they tended to ask fewer questions - the Succubi often presented themselves as prostitutes to avoid suspicion, and to woo women they often presented themselves as dashing travelling knights or handsome rogues. Succubi were known to be immortal, so it is likely that those who struck deals with the Inquisition - and stood by them - still live within this world. The Imperial state officially denies that any Succubi live in modern times, but the Inquisition itself has refused to comment. Category:Dreadfolk